Monday, November 15, 2010

Recent Pleasures

JOHN HANLON, Brooklyn NY

1. Enter The Void, directed by Gasper Noe
A barrage of visionary excess, induced by both drugs and a postmortem journey. Now that computers have advanced so that we can make incredible otherworldly movies, why does everything look so drab?

2. Henry Grimes at the Stone
Grimes is celebrating his 75th birthday by playing a series of shows at The Stone and has agility and chops that men half his age would kill for.

3. Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, restored version
Well, sort of restored. I know that the recently discovered footage only exists in a scratchy 16mm print, but was no effort made to clean it up? This doesn’t distract from how great, how contemporary Lang’s 1927 film is.

4. Mad Men season one on demand for free
Finally I can see, from the beginning, a series I’m getting sick of hearing about.

5. Odessa by the Bee Gees
The Brothers Gibb tried moving from romantic, catchy singles to a double album statement. Sometimes self-important, but often an intriguing combination of lush and quirky.

6. Tequila + karaoke = John singing Gorillaz’ Feel Good Inc.

7. 40 Part Motet by Janet Cardiff
Revisited one of my favorite artworks of recent years. A room with 40 speakers arranged in a circle, with each speaker playing a separate singer in a choir as they perform Thomas Tallis’ Spem In Alium. You can do your own mix of the song by moving around the room or sit in one location and just experience the incredible sound.